Sharing
by SheDevil2050
Summary: Zuko and Katara share stories, fears, apologies, and privileges. ZUTARA


Yes this sorry excuse for a oneshot is called 'Sharing' for lack of a better name (and of imagination, on my part) Anyway. Enjoy.

"You're pretty good at that, you know

"You're pretty good at that, you know?" Katara said as Zuko plopped down on the bench beside her. He had been having a Fire Duel with Aang, and Aang was getting better.

Aang had gone of with Sokka for a little hand to hand combat training. Although they were primarily dependent on Aang's bending, they weren't 100 of all of the happenings with Ty Lee and Mai at the Boiling Rock after they left, and they were worried what would happen if Ty Lee got to him. They had to be completely cautious. Also, they wanted to give Sokka his moment; though Katara was sure that her kindness would only be rewarded by way to many 'I taught him that!'s.

Zuko looked in her direction with eyebrows raised; he had not been expecting the compliment. "Uh… thanks."

"Did your father teach you?" There was more than just that question behind Katara's words, Zuko knew, but her expression was unreadable.

"No, he was more concerned in _foreign affairs_, than family." Zuko sneered, as he was talking about his father, but then when he mentioned his uncle, his expression was clear.

"My uncle trained me when he returned from siege on Ba Sing Se."

Katara looked up. "I keep forgetting that your uncle was the Dragon of the West. I didn't know he was in the previous siege on Ba Sing Se. Your uncle obviously didn't win, but I have no doubt that could have." Katara watched Zuko's expression sadden. "Why did come back?"

Zuko looked away. "His son was killed."

Katara blinked. She had always known that wars took so many things from both sides, however, before she had always thought that what ever happened to the Fire Nation was their own fault. Iroh was not like most Fire Nation natives. He was kind and friendly. Katara frowned.

"That's so sad. How did he take it?" She hoped he didn't suffer too much, though the fact that he abandoned the war front was proof that he had.

Zuko looked into Katara's eyes, seeing the genuine concern. "He didn't really talk to anyone for a while. Then one day, he saw me in the royal courtyard, trying a move that I just couldn't get down. He was at my side, and he showed me how to do it." Zuko chuckled. "He drilled me until I got it perfect."

Zuko smiled and watched a leaf drift lazily to the ground. "Something changed that day. He no longer sulked. He took me under his wing. He taught me everything I know; about firebending, about life… about love."

Katara watched the leaf as well. He gazed shifted to the look of general wellbeing on Zuko's face. His eyes found hers and she looked down, blushing.

Katara quickly jumpstarted the conversation, "Did he teach Azula too?"

Zuko's eyes darkened. "No, Azula was always a prodigy, so naturally my father insisted that he teach her himself."

Katara was about to change the subject again when Zuko continued.

"It's alright though. I didn't need my father. I had my uncle to watch over me. He loved me like a son, and he was always there for me; when I got my scar, when I was banished, and when I had no one else to turn to." Zuko was upset, but almost euphoric, as he remembered the good times.

Katara yearned to reach out and touch Zuko's arm; she was a natural mother figure. Even though he used to be the enemy, he was one of them now, and she wanted to comfort him like if it had been anyone else in the group. However, right now, her motherly instinct was taken over by something else that made it hard to resist the urge as she instead folder her hands in her lap; something stronger. "It sound's like you really love him."

Zuko looked up uneasily. "After my mom left, he was all I had."

Katara looked at Zuko and for a minute felt jealous. His life must have been horrible. She did not know the details of how he got his scar or why he was banished, and she could not imagine living with someone as evil as Azula, but she envied him for having someone… anyone after his mother left.

"You're lucky to have had him." Katara averted her eyes as she said this, not wanting Zuko to see the envy. When Katara's mother died, her whole world had come crashing down. Because of her sex, she was never extremely close to he father. Also, Sokka was at the age where hanging out with your little sis was becoming 'uncool'. She was all alone.

Zuko smiled warmly. "I know."

Finding another dead end, Katara continued with the questions. She was getting to see so much of this boy who she used to think was the enemy.

"Zuko… what was she like, your mother?" Katara asked.

"She was kind, like my Uncle. She always treated me like her son, not like some disgusting animal that had crawled out from under a rock, like my father."

"Although I wasn't a prodigy, she always believed in me. When Azula was being mean, she was always there."

"So you were a mama's boy then?" She laughed.

Zuko narrowed his eyes, but his tone was playful. "She protected me from my serpent of a sister. Azula was always an angel around her. So being around mom equaled angel Azula. Why wouldn't I jump at that chance?"

They both laughed for a bit, and then they settled.

"Also, she was the only one who ever told me my bending was good." Zuko's voice turned into a whisper.

Then he glanced up at Katara and grinned. "She was a bad liar."

"I was around her the first time I fire bended. I set her dress on fire by accident." Zuko smiled.

Katara smiled back. "I still can't imagine _you_ as a mama's boy."

"So when did you first water bend?" Zuko questioned lightly. He was tired of telling his story. However he regretted the question when the atmosphere around them quickly changed.

"I found out I was a Waterbender the day my mother died." Katara spoke slowly as she stared off into the distance. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she winced, remembering the past. She shuddered and then glanced in Zuko's direction.

"Katara, you don't have to tell me." Zuko leaned back. He noticed how close they had been sitting.

Katara took a deep breath. "It's O.K. I… I want to." Katara sighed. "I've never really told this to anyone, not even Sokka. After it happened, it was just too hard to think about, so we never really disgusted it. We just kind of accepted it and moved on."

Katara looked at her hands. "I think this was mostly because Sokka and Dad thought that I was in the family tent when she was… taken from us."

Zuko leaned in and tried to catch Katara's eye. She glanced up. "I was on the battle field."

Zuko gasped silently. He watched Katara's eye's gloss over; like she was no longer in the present, but deep in a memory. He watched as she started to speak. But her eyes did not move.

"The fire nation attacked our village. I was hiding in Gran Gran's igloo. I was told to stay there, and I was going to… until I heard my mother scream."

_A shrill angry scream rang over the ice, and hurt Katara's ears. She moved to the edge of the small igloo, and peaked out the door._

_Katara saw her mother, kneeling at the side of a charred corpse. She took a deep breath as a fierce look of anger came across her tear stricken face._

_Katara blinked. She had never seen this side of her mother before._

_He mother stood slowly, shaking lightly. There were firebenders all around her, ready to attack._

_Katara watched as her mother's hands became tense. She widened her stance and took control of the icy ground._

_Katara watched as one by one the firebenders disappeared beneath thick ice. He mother began to move faster, burying the firebenders under the snow._

_Her mother was so focused on the firebenders that she did not see the general coming at her from behind. She was still dropping people when the general was right behind her on a war rhino with a long spear pointed at her back._

_Katara tore towards her mother, knowing she was still unaware of the danger._

_The general was taking his time. He had a sick smile as he watched Katara's mother take out his men, one by one._

_Finally he raised his spear, and Katara was still ten yards away._

"_MOM!" She yelled hoping to alert her of the danger._

_Her mom turned toward her, and then saw the spear coming for her._

_Without thinking, Katara threw her hand up, dragging water with it. A thin whip of water shot out of her grip, and sliced off the head of the spear. It fell onto the snowy ground, and Katara's mom was just out of reach of the blunt metal stick._

_Katara looked from her hands to the spear head to her mother. Katara's mother, despite the fact that she had lost her best friend moments ago, smiled with pride at her daughter. Immediately after, she frowned in terror._

_She looked at the general who was now looking at Katara. He drew back his hand and hurled a white hot fire ball at her._

_Katara couldn't even blink before her mother jumped in front of her, blocking the fire ball by taking it in her back herself._

_Katara inhaled sharply as she felt the heat in her mother's chest._

_Her mother coughed. "Katara, I am so proud of you. I love you so much."_

_Katara started to cry. "Mom…"_

"_Listen to me. Never give up, Katara." He mother sank lower to ground. "And don't ever forget who you are."_

"She froze the guard right before she died to give me a head start. I ran to the tent. He was taken care of by my dad before he could reach me. When my dad found me, he thought the tears were from fear." Katara sighed.

Zuko watched Katara's face. Her eyes were deep pools of cerulean that were full of salty tears. However, Katara did not blink. She probably needed a good cry, but Zuko knew how she would feel of her former enemy saw her being weak.

Zuko reached out and took Katara's hand. He stroked it gently. "Why would that guard try to harm a defenseless little girl?"

Katara sniffed and raised an eyebrow. She allowed herself to laugh. "Defenseless, huh?"

Zuko backed up. "Well your not defenseless any more, but you probably were then… oh you know what I mean!"

Katara laughed. "I knew what you meant."

Then the laughing stopped. She pulled her knees up to her chest. "They had orders from Fire Lord Ozai to kill all the water benders in the South Pole."

Zuko heated up. He growled. Of course it was his father, who else could be so ruthless.

Katara continued. "They almost succeeded. Other than Hama, I'm the only one left."

Zuko looked Katara up and down. His eyes covered this perfect girl that Ozai tried to destroy. When he fought against his father and his army, he would not only be fighting for his mother, but for Katara's as well.

Katara stood up, pulled her hand out of Zuko's, and bent some water out of the fountain. She bent it intricately around her, and then around Zuko.

She threw the water up, and then iced it. It fell down into sharp icicles which she then drove into the stone wall. She grinned at Zuko.

"They'll be sorry they messed with my family, and even sorrier that they missed me."

Zuko gulped. "You're starting to be quite scary. You haven't been hanging around my sister have you?"

Katara laughed and then grabbed more water and flung it towards Zuko. He returned the blow with a fireball.

As they fought they mimicked each other step for step. The fire and water danced around them, perfectly balanced.

Finally they stopped and, huffing loudly, they returned to the stone bench.

Katara looked at Zuko. "I'm sorry about how mean I was when you first came here. I didn't trust you at all, not after what you did in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se."

Zuko moved to apologize but Katara continued.

"But it wasn't just that. I know I had no right to think this, but when I thought about you training Aang, and I was afraid you lacked the self control to keep your cool with him."

Zuko was angry, but mostly because he knew that she could have been right.

"I thought about all those times you had attacked Aang… all those time you attacked me. It was like, because you were the fire lord's son, every flame that flew from your hands was the one that killed my mom."

Zuko pulled Katara into a hug. She let a tear go as she whispered into his neck. "It was a completely irrational thought, I can see that now."

Zuko pulled her tighter. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry."

They stayed that way for a while before Zuko spoke. "Katara?"

"Yeah?"

"I will never, ever hurt you again."

"I know. I trust you."

"Thank you."

They pulled apart and went their separate ways for the day. At dinner they didn't let the others on to their secret talk; they were just as rude as usual. Zuko made a comment about the washed up taste of the meal Katara had prepared, and Katara 'accidentally' tripped him in the hallway on her way to the baths.

Anyone that had witnessed that would have heard Katara's giggle, and seen Zuko's grin.

At bed time Katara watched Zuko drag himself to his bedroom. She waited outside his room until he went to the baths, and then dragged his bed roll out into the main courtyard where everybody else slept.

When Zuko came back, he found his stuff missing and went to confront Katara only to find his bed roll laid next to Aang's and Sokka's on the floor of the main courtyard.

He walked over to Katara and nudged her with his foot. She opened her eyes and frowned.

"Thanks."

Katara just rolled over shrugging in her bed roll.

That night they both fell asleep with a smile, for the first time in years.

In case anybody cares, I was listening to 'You're Not Alone' by Saosin, which is amazing, when I wrote this Fic. You should listen to it. I love it alot!

SheDevil


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